Last night I did not sleep as well as I have the last 2 nights. It was more like a usual night for me where I wake up multiple times and cant seem to stay asleep. Overall I think Day 3 has been my hardest so far. I felt hungry and un-satisfied for most of the day. It was either the food I ate or the combination of them that left my stomach grumbly and off. All of this combined leads me to say I am glad today is my last day on rotation! I know you are supposed to do these type of diets for at least 6 weeks to really get a good base line and to see how your body responds to a new program. For me this will be the end of it. I am so excited to get back to regular programming tomorrow!

This morning I started my day with a 4 1/2 mile run followed by an hour of body pump. Usually when I do this combo on Thursday’s it is a breeze. Today was really hard. My body felt weak and tired. I am not sure if it is from what I ate yesterday, or from this week, or just an off day. Either way I am hoping tomorrow will be better.  Breakfast today consisted of a massive amount of watermelon, cantaloupe, and honeydew melon. I am finding the fruit with more water in them fill me up a lot more then some of the other types.

Breakfast

• 2 cups of Watermelon
• 1 cup of Cantaloupe
• 1 cup of Honeydew melon
• 1 cup of coffee with steamed almond milk

By lunch time I was craving protein. I had made acorn squash, but grabbed some salmon lox at the breakfast bar to eat along with it. Actually lunch ended up hitting the spot and I have felt satisfied all day! I didn’t even need an afternoon pick me up, which lately is un-heard of.

Lunch

• 4 oz of Lox Salmon
• 1/2 baked acorn squash with brown sugar and salt
• 2 small beets
• 1/2 cup grilled summer squash
• 3 glazed pecans for dessert

For dinner it was all about Salmon and squash again. I have to say dinner totally hit the spot! Today my body felt really good with the food choices. I have been content and happy all day. After every meal I felt full, I did not crave snacks, and I was able to sustain energy.

Dinner

• 4oz of Atlantic Salmon with sea salt and a drizzle of maple
• 1 large summer squash made into spaghetti with a little olive oil and garlic salt
• 8 Okra pods baked
• 2 oz of sake

All in all here is what I liked and disliked about the rotation diet.

I liked that I was able to eat different things every day. It was nice to see what foods my body responded well to and which ones it struggled with. It was good to stop my snacking habit and focus on full satisfying meals. It was also nice to cut out processed foods and emphasize protein, veggies, and fruit. I also was happy with the added sleep from the week.

What I disliked was all of the food prep. There was a lot of thought and energy that went into every night with planning meals for the next day. It was also expensive. Since I could  not eat leftovers I had to buy a lot of different food to last throughout the week. Even with stocking up at the farmers market on Sunday it did not sustain all my meals.  Lastly it was hard to tell myself no to something healthy I was craving, aka like grapes and greek yogurt, because it was not the right day.

What I am taking away from this experience is it is good to force myself to vary my food more often. Even if it is just alternating breakfast every other day. I also like knowing what foods pair well together, which I can try and be mindful of when making meal choices going forward. Would I do this again, absolutely. Am I glad it is done tomorrow and I can go to happy hour to enjoy whatever healthy meal I want. Yep, I cant wait! I see wine, cheese, and bread in my near future.